Soaking puppy food

Discussion in 'Labrador Puppies' started by Rosieapple, Mar 4, 2019.

  1. Rosieapple

    Rosieapple Registered Users

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    I have a 10 week old Labrador puppy what age do you stop soaking the kibble ? our puppy’s poo is very sloppy and I wondered if this is because of the soaking any help appreciated
     
  2. Michael A Brooks

    Michael A Brooks Registered Users

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    Hi @Rosieapple
    Has her stools always been soft since you brought her home?

    Soft stools may [I stress] be a sign of over feeding.

    But it could be a number of different factors. What are you softening the kibble with?

    I recommend you talk to your vet.
     
  3. Rosieapple

    Rosieapple Registered Users

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  4. Rosieapple

    Rosieapple Registered Users

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    Hi I have taken him to the vets as there is streaks of blood in it the vet has put him on metronidazole for 5 days as the blood has been there since I brought him home. I soak his meal in warm water but It looks quite sloppy so I am not soaking it for so long, I wondered when you stop soaking it Finley is 10 weeks old. Thank you for your reply Rosie
     
  5. jbg

    jbg Registered Users

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    I would talk to your vet about the soft poop. Shouldn't be and could be parasites or food allergies to what you are feeding. Water in food shouldn't cause that. over feeding could be it as the poster said above. About soaking kibble. You can stop that at anytime. Our puppies always ate/eat dry kibble from the very beginning. They drink with their meals and always have water available until about 6:00 pm. I would definitely talk to your vet about the poop!
     
  6. CamK

    CamK Registered Users

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    It is amazing how much we talk about poop and our babies! I have 3 cats and 2 dogs... 2 cats get constipated and need Mira lax. And Zeke(2) has a much softer stool than the other dog since he was a puppy. He has food sensitivities and had a bout with yeast on his skin . All took about a year to figure out with the vet. We add a probiotic for Zeke since it seems to help, the vet said to just continue. And we add water to their food still at age 2 & 4.

    So I agree talk to your vet. Rule out parasites or infection. Zeke had a bout of antibiotics as a puppy that We think knocked his gut out of whack. The probiotics are helping.
     
  7. Chewies_mum

    Chewies_mum Registered Users

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    I think the kibble soaking and soft poos are likely unrelated. Soaking kibble is no different to your dog having a drink after their meal in terms of the end result. And you have obviously done the right thing regarding the soft poos by seeing your vet.

    We never soaked our puppies kibble. A puppy older than 8 weeks should be generally able to eat dry kibble. I would only soak kibble if I was worried that they weren't drinking enough (some dogs aren't great drinkers) or to fill treat toys.

    Hope your pup is better soon! Mine has recently been on metronidazole (and Panacur) for diarrhoea too. Fingers crossed.
     
  8. Jo Laurens

    Jo Laurens Registered Users

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    Soaking food: I don't recommend you soak your puppy's kibble. Because you should be training with it! And you can't really train with wet kibble. Honestly, every meal time is a training opportunity and unless you plan to feed your pup kibble meals every day and then feed additional treats on top (resulting in overweight dog!) you want to be using your pup's regular meals to train with. Only very very tiny little pups for about a week or two after they are weaned, need soaked kibble if the breeder wants to feed a kibble.

    Runny poop: This is probably related to something else. You said your vet gave you a 5 day course of metronidazole. Metronidazole is a treatment for giardia. Which I happen to know a thing or two about, having battled it for 13 years of my Weimaraner's life :| Are you noticing any improvement on that? By day 2 of using it, there should be a substantial improvement if it is going to work. If you haven't noticed an improvement by day 2-3, then likely this is not going to work for you.

    If you DO notice an improvement, then you may well need more than 5 days. 5 days is a very short course of metronidazole and typically a 7-10 day course is needed. If I were you, if it is working, I'd call the vet and ask for a longer course - you can pick up some more tablets from the receptionist.

    If the metronidazole doesn't work, personally, I'd try a 3 day course of Panacur 10% - which is a gentle wormer that is also effective against giardia. It is non-prescription and the giardia dosage comes on the info leaflet it comes with. Sometimes giardia is killed by either metronidazole or by Panacur (fenbendazole) and sometimes it can be a toughie and need both, even. Panacur is also effective against pretty much all worms so you will cover those as well.

    If the Panacur doesn't work, go back to your vet and ask for a stool sample - you don't want to guess anymore what it could be and throw random things at it. Stool samples often don't find the problem for various reasons but sometimes they do, so it's worth a try as the next step.
     

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